According to the commission, 13,423,800 voters selected Moon Jae-in as their preference for President.
Prior to the announcement, speaking to supporters Tuesday at a rally on Seoul's historic Gwanghwamun Square -- the site of mass protests that helped eject Park -- Moon said he would be a "president for the people."
The election of Moon, a 64-year-old former human rights lawyer, is likely to mean an overhaul for Seoul's policy on North Korea. Unlike his hard-line conservative predecessor, he favors engagement with Pyongyang and has challenged the deployment of a controversial US missile defense system.
"This is the great victory for the great people who have been with me to build a just country, united country and a country where principle and common sense works, Moon said.
Speaking at Democratic Party headquarters following an exit poll announcement that showed him well ahead of conservative Hong Jun-pyo and centrist Ahn Cheol-soo, respectively, Moon said he was expecting a "landslide victory." He said his win came from the "desperation of the people for a new government."
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